The program — choreographed by Wild Space artistic director Debra Loewen, Mauriah Kraker, Monica Rodero and Dan Schuchart, with contributions from the dancers in the company — examined the enormous topic of life itself, along with questions along the lines of "Why can't we live forever?"

Built of a series of vignettes, the program was accompanied by recorded music and at timed by silences, as well as recorded text from Alan Lightman's "The Accidental Universe" and lines spoken by company members.

Vignette titles ranged from the tongue in cheek to the enigmatic, including: "Learn to fly on the way down," "A palindrome of odd proportion," "Love my life away" and Unnatural disasters."

The vignettes also ranged from the tongue in cheek to the enigmatic, with bits that included pastoral bird-watching, a scene built around issues of Life magazine and some humor about teaching a dog to bark.

Moving between playfulness, contemplative thought and even frustrated anger, the show touched on many universal truths and experiences, including a particularly touching bit that closed the show underscoring the smallness of our lives in the context of the universe.

The show flowed smoothly from idea to idea and scene to scene, in a format that Loewen's program notes aptly described as "like a memoir." The seamless flow was facilitated by dancers dividing into small ensembles and reconvening for full-company scenes, requiring almost no downtime between "chapters."

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Keep up with the art scene and trends in urban design with art and architecture critic Mary Louise Schumacher. Every week, you'll get the latest reviews, musings on architecture and her picks for what to do on the weekends.

E-mail Newsletter

Keep up with the art scene and trends in urban design with art and architecture critic Mary Louise Schumacher. Every week, you'll get the latest reviews, musings on architecture and her picks for what to do on the weekends.